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Editor's Note: With the football season starting up this week, BLUE COUGAR FOOTBALL will return to featuring a past football game in the weekly flashback.

On this date 15 years ago, the Brigham Young Cougars followed up a stunning upset of Texas A&M in the Pigskin Classic by slaughtering Arkansas State. The Red Wolves were a replacement for Alabama on the schedule. If there was any doubt after the Texas A&M win about how special this 1996 team could be, then game two of the year answered those doubts. Not only could BYU beat the big boys, but they could also destroy the little ones. (Something a 10 win BYU team struggled to do just two years earlier.)
Quarterback Steve Sarkisian threw only half (23) as many passes as he did one week earlier (44) as BYU focused on improving its ground attack by rushing the ball 60 times. Nevertheless, it was three Sarkisian touchdown passes that guided BYU to a 24-3 halftime lead.

The Cougar defense clearly outmatched the Arkansas State offense. The Red Wolves held the ball for just 21:30, they punted eight times and turned the ball over thrice (two interceptions and one fumble). BYU stopped Arkansas State 14 of the 17 times the Red Wolves faced a third down. Arkansas State completed less than 50% of its 40 pass attempts, and barely mustered five yards per pass. BYU was just as effective against the run. Arkansas State only netted 71 yards rushing while averaging less than three yards per rush. The Red Wolves total offense was just 274 yards.

The BYU offense more than doubled Arkansas State’s output with 560 yards. The Cougars offense used a very balanced attack. Of those 560 yards, 54% were from passing (302) and 46% came on the ground (258). No BYU running back rushed for more than 88 yards (Dustin Johnson) as nine players carried the ball. No BYU receiver had more than 90 yards (K.O. Kealaluhi) as 11 different Cougars caught passes. Six different players scored touchdowns; Mark Atuaia was the only player to register more than one TD.

BYU’s balance played out on the scoreboard as well. BYU scored at least 10 points in each of the four quarters, but never more than 17 (first: 14, second: 10, third: 17, fourth: 17).

Not only was the game a great opportunity for BYU to improve the ground game, it provided soccer convert Ethan Pochman plenty of practice kicking the ball. Pochman totaled 15 points in the game as he made all 6 of his point-after-touchdown kicks, as well as field goals from 28, 30, and 33 yards.

BYU was now 2-0 after scoring 99 points in the two contests, and ranked number 16. The 1996 season was off to a better start than anyone could have imagined.

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BYU football has been pretty hard to watch in 2017, particularly on offense. After game two, a 27-0 loss to LSU, Head Coach Kalani Sitake said, "I know I am coming down hard on the offense, but, man, let's be honest, that was the issue." The offensive production hasn't gotten much better since, and Sitake hasn't changed his rhetoric.

Who would blame him? BYU is averaging 9.8 points per game, 4.3 yards per play (3.2 yards per rush and 5.2 yards per pass), and 221.75 total yards per game. The Cougar offense has converted just 34 percent of third downs, has averaged 23:47 time of possession, and has a 93.7 pass efficiency rating.

That has some fans speculating that one or more coaches will be fired before the end of the season. That is madness. No one on the BYU coaching staff will be unemployed before the game at Hawaii on November 25.

Making a coaching change midseason is reserved for exceptional cases. Either something happens off the field, or the same problem …

Growing up a fan of BYU football was fun. The foundation had already been laid with the 1984 National Championship, the long list of All-American quarterbacks, and the reputation of being an unstoppable offensive powerhouse. I witnessed Ty Detmer win the Heisman Trophy, Steve Young win Super Bowl MVP honors, and the legendary LaVell Edwards build a team that won the Cotton Bowl and could compete with any team in the country.

It wasn't long ago that Max Hall delivered on his passionate halftime guarantee, "We're going to win," and beat the number 3 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. The Cougars did it without running back Harvey Unga, who would set the school's career rushing record later that year.

At that time BYU was on the bubble of busting the BCS every year, and with the legacy that Cougar football has, fans were justified in believing their beloved Cougars were still among the top tier in college football.

The 2017 football season is three games old for BYU. The Cougars have already been shutout once, they have not passed for more than 200 yards in a game, and have no real established playmakers. That is a formula for furious fans in Cougar Nation.

Some fans are calling for a coaching change. Others are preaching patience. A third group wants the offensive coaches to run a different scheme.

It is no secret that offensive coordinator Ty Detmer is not trying to run the same scheme he used as a player at BYU to rewrite the NCAA record book. The offense he wants to run resembles what he learned during his 14 seasons in the NFL.

Lackluster results this year has this approach under scrutiny. After all, Tanner Mangum does not look like the same quarterback who passed for 3,377 yards, 23 touchdowns, and had a 136 pass efficiency rating in Robert Anae's offense as a freshman.

In management, whether football or Fortune 500, a train of thought has developed that to show you are a good manager…